330’s determination when she said that she wasn’t going to let anyone be taken seems to have been in earnest. She’s thrown herself into trying to figure out when and where the Noctis are planning their exchange, so she can stop it. Meanwhile, I’ve been given the job of watching Arnold to make sure nothing happens to him, while also trying to avoid someone getting suspicious enough about me to call the cops on this creepy stalker lady.
Since Miss Sieppe seems to have given Brandon the same job, the two of us often end up sitting on benches next to each other, pretending not to notice the other while also pretending that we aren’t watching an elementary school across the street from us.
For the first two days, we were silent with each other. Then came this morning, when I decided, screw it, four AM is a miserable time to be trying to watch someone’s house. Stood up from the bench, and without thinking, said, “I’m gonna get some coffee. You want any, 33-”
Well that was awkward. Both Brandon and I spent a few seconds repeating “What?” at each other until we realized what was happening. At which point I decided, well, might as well get him coffee as well. Even accounting for youthful energy, I doubt he’s as comfortable with stalking people this early in the morning either.
The Starbucks was less than a block away, so it didn’t take long to walk there and back. We drank in silence, but the atmosphere had lost some of its edge.
“I first saw it when I was in high school.” Brandon said after throwing away his cup. “Don’t remember what class it was. History, maybe. Yeah, history. Mr. Johnson was talking about Rome. I was bored, so I started looking out the window. And out there was this skinny faceless dude in a suit. Right outside the second story window. After that, I saw him everywhere.” Long pause. I waited for him to continue. “That last straw was when it killed our dog. Tore its organs out and spread them across a trees branches. Rest of my family thought it was some sadistic prank by one of the neighborhood kids. I saw it as a warning. After that I dropped out of school and went on the run. Maybe I thought I could get away from it by running, but wherever I went, it was already there waiting for me. It wasn’t until I met Miss Sieppe a year ago that I stopped. She gave me a place to sleep and the first real meal I’d had in months. Thought I could pay her back by helping her out. After that, it seemed to lose interest in me. I don’t know why, but since then, it hasn’t been following me as much. I’ll still see it, sometimes peering in my window to remind me that it’s still there, but never with the same frequency as before.”
A long silence fell after he finished. I thought he might continue, but that seemed to be it. After a while, he asked, “So what’s your story?”
My story? “A complete stranger from the internet told me to check out a black chest in my attic. In it I found a journal from one of my ancestors, who was followed by the Slender Man. Along with other monsters.”
Brandon nodded. “And after reading it, you started seeing it too?”
“No, after reading it I was attacked by a bulletproof time traveler. I-330 saved me, and since then I’ve been following her on all her adventures. That was when it started appearing for me.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Seriously.”
That was the longest conversation the two of us had. We still were restrained by the knowledge that we weren’t exactly on the same side in this. But at least we acknowledged each other’s presence after that.
330 was in a cheerful mood when we next saw each other. “I’ve figured it out.” She said, unfolding a map of the city. “They’re going to be taking a bus from a retirement center, and drive it here, where they’ll perform the exchange.” She jabbed at the map. “I’ll hijack the bus and get them away. You go get the kid, and meet me at this intersection.” Pointed at another part of the map.
“You want me to kidnap Arnold?”
“Ehh… it sounds a lot nastier when you put it like that… but yes. Would you rather leave him to the alternative?”
Which brings us to now, where I am preparing to steal a child from their home in order to save them from being stolen from their home by an evil faceless man in a suit, all while 330 prepares to kidnap a group of old people to stop an ancient Egyptian conspiracy from sacrificing them to said evil faceless man in a suit.
When did this become my life?
-Lisa
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Noctis Custodes
With the guy who was supposed to be tailing us dead, I’d thought we would begin moving again. But 330 wants to stay in Chicago for a while longer; make sure that no one else is going to pick up our trail. Keep our heads down, try not to attract attention, that sort of thing. We’ve already changed hotels a few times just to be safe.
“Safe” being a relative word, I suppose.
330’s still got me on her training regime. Since apparently she thinks being able to run seven miles is vital for this life.
I really hope I don’t ever end up being chased by something for seven whole miles.
Some of these runs take us by the Lakefront trail. There’s usually people out there, either working out like us or just relaxing by the water. Even a few families out for the day.
And when we went out today, standing to the side of the trail, head turning to follow a little boy as he ran ahead of his parents, was the Slender Man.
330 stopped running to watch it. It didn’t seem interested in us. The head steadily stayed on the child, as he stopped running to let his parents come back alongside him. The kid was saying something excitedly to both of them, and they laughed; none seemed aware of their observer. 330 was focusing on it with a hostile intensity; I on the other hand, was merely grateful for an opportunity to catch my breath. As I was bent over gasping for air, I noticed that 330 wasn’t the only one glaring at Slender Man. A young Hispanic man, maybe a higher schooler, was looking at it from further down the trail. Pointed him out to 330.
“Interesting….” She broke off staring at Slender Man to walk in the direction of the young man. “You know, we’ve got words for strange people who watch children.” She called out to him.
He seemed surprised at being addressed, and started to walk away without responding. 330 had to run to catch him, leaving me behind once more. She quickly jumped in front of him, blocking his exit. “Slenderstalked, for one.”
That definitely caught his attention. Looked straight at 330 and asked what she wanted.
“Just curious. I’m I-330.” She held out her hand.
He didn’t take it at first. “Is that a name, or are you just screwing with me?”
“It’s a name.”
Slowly, he shook her hand. “I’m Brandon…. You can see him too?”
330 was nodding when I finally caught up. Was trying to catch my breath (again) when 330 put an arm over my shoulder. “And this is Lisa. Isn’t she adorable when she’s breathless?”
Failed to fight the oncoming blush that happened, but did manage to mutter a hello. Brandon nodded in response, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Alright, so we ran into Slendy here by chance.” 330 said. “What’s your excuse?”
“I’m supposed to be observing it, and keep tabs on its current target.”
“Who for? The government? One of the paramilitary groups?”
“The Noctis Custodes.”
I quickly caught the change in 330’s attitude. Muscles tensed, smile started to show too many teeth, and her posture started to shift so she looked ready to pounce. Shit. She was getting ready for a fight. I started looking around for cover to dive behind.
“Ah, that would explain the smell of hypocrisy in the air. You people must be having a hard time finding members; I wasn’t aware that they were recruiting from grade schools now.” 330’s venom seemed to take Brandon by surprise for a moment.
“You’ve got something against us?”
“Oh, now what gave you the hint?”
“330,” I broke in. “What’s the Noctis Custodes?”
“A cult that sacrifices people to Slender Man.”
Brandon bristled at the remark. “We save people from that monster!”
“You kill innocent people following a stupid idea that you can satiate the thing.”
“We do what we have to in order to save people!”
“Um… guys….” Their shouting was starting to draw attention to us. Tried to say something to get them to stop, but they didn’t pay attention to me.
“Brandon!” A fourth voice entered the conversation, belonging to a middle aged woman, who looked like she belonged at the wheel of a minivan full of kids. “There you are! I knew I’d find you if I followed the shouting.”
Brandon’s aggression fell away in an instant. “Sorry, Miss Sieppe. I lost my head.”
“No need to apologize, dear. Just try to keep your emotions under control next time.”
This woman stepped between 330 and Brandon; 330 eased up, but only slightly.
“My name is Jane Sieppe. I see you’ve already met Brandon. We’re the Noctis Custodes in this region.”
“What, just the two of you?” 330 said.
“There used to be more of us.” Sieppe said. “An exchange went bad a while back, and until Brandon joined a year ago, it was just me.”
Thus far this woman appeared to be the only levelheaded person participating in the conversation. I instantly took a liking to her as a result. “What do you mean, exchange?” I asked.
She smiled at me. “You’re the girl who was asking what the Noctis are, weren’t you?” I nodded. “We’re an old group. I’ve heard that we go back as far as ancient Egypt, but I’ve always been fuzzy on the history. We keep an eye out for the Slender Man, in all its incarnations. And when we find that it’s targeting someone-”
“You sacrifice people to it.” 330 said.
Sieppe didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, you could call it that. It’s not a nice thing we do. We take a group of people, usually around twenty of them. People from prisons, nursing homes, or hospitals. Ones who don’t have anything left in their lives. Then we take them to the exchange point, and let the Slender Man take them instead of the child.”
“You mean…” I said, “you let him-it, you let it… kill those people?”
“Only rarely does it outright kill them. Usually, they just disappear. But after that, it stops following the child. We give up those without a future in order to save someone who still has theirs.”
“That’s… horrible….”
“Yes. It is. I don’t ask anyone to approve of it. But it’s the only way anyone has found that can save someone after the Slender Man’s taken interest in them.”
330 stepped towards Miss Sieppe. “You’re planning one of your sacrifices to save that boy back there?”
Sieppe nodded. “Yes. Arnold Brooks. Seven years old. Likes dinosaurs. Wants to be a basketball player when he grows up. Unless we do something, he’ll be taken within a few weeks.”
“You do realize, if you try to sacrifice anyone to Slendy, I will have to stop you.”
“Surely you see what we’re trying to do. If you stop us, the child will be taken. I can understand you’d disagree with our methods, but if you actually try to interfere… it will be the death of the boy.”
“Fuck that!” 330 yelled, lunging towards Miss Sieppe until their faces were almost touching. “Don’t any of you understand?”I’ve seen your conspiracy trying this for millennia, letting people die because you think you’re saving someone! Centuries of stupidity, and you still haven’t realized that it can’t be negotiated with! You can’t bargain with it, can’t satiate its hunger! If it kills a carload of inmates you got from the local prison instead of some kid, that’s because it was planning to kill those inmates the entire time! All you’re ever doing is giving up more victims to it!”
Brandon looked like he was about to start shouting at 330 again, but Sieppe held him back. She stayed remarkably calm for someone who had just been the target of such a verbal assault. “You aren’t the first person to think that. And I’m aware that it may be true. But this is the only thing anyone knows that has a chance of saving people. So we have to try.”
330 spun around and started walking away. “We’re going back, Lisa.”
Walked in silence with her until we were out of sight of the two Custodes. “We you serious back there?” I said. “About stopping their exchange?”
“Yes. I won’t let anyone sacrifice someone to that monster.”
“But what about the kid they’re trying to save?”
“I’ll save him. I’ll save all of them. I don’t care what any ancient conspiracy says to me. No one is going to get taken by the Slender Man. Not while I’m here.”
-Lisa
“Safe” being a relative word, I suppose.
330’s still got me on her training regime. Since apparently she thinks being able to run seven miles is vital for this life.
I really hope I don’t ever end up being chased by something for seven whole miles.
Some of these runs take us by the Lakefront trail. There’s usually people out there, either working out like us or just relaxing by the water. Even a few families out for the day.
And when we went out today, standing to the side of the trail, head turning to follow a little boy as he ran ahead of his parents, was the Slender Man.
330 stopped running to watch it. It didn’t seem interested in us. The head steadily stayed on the child, as he stopped running to let his parents come back alongside him. The kid was saying something excitedly to both of them, and they laughed; none seemed aware of their observer. 330 was focusing on it with a hostile intensity; I on the other hand, was merely grateful for an opportunity to catch my breath. As I was bent over gasping for air, I noticed that 330 wasn’t the only one glaring at Slender Man. A young Hispanic man, maybe a higher schooler, was looking at it from further down the trail. Pointed him out to 330.
“Interesting….” She broke off staring at Slender Man to walk in the direction of the young man. “You know, we’ve got words for strange people who watch children.” She called out to him.
He seemed surprised at being addressed, and started to walk away without responding. 330 had to run to catch him, leaving me behind once more. She quickly jumped in front of him, blocking his exit. “Slenderstalked, for one.”
That definitely caught his attention. Looked straight at 330 and asked what she wanted.
“Just curious. I’m I-330.” She held out her hand.
He didn’t take it at first. “Is that a name, or are you just screwing with me?”
“It’s a name.”
Slowly, he shook her hand. “I’m Brandon…. You can see him too?”
330 was nodding when I finally caught up. Was trying to catch my breath (again) when 330 put an arm over my shoulder. “And this is Lisa. Isn’t she adorable when she’s breathless?”
Failed to fight the oncoming blush that happened, but did manage to mutter a hello. Brandon nodded in response, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Alright, so we ran into Slendy here by chance.” 330 said. “What’s your excuse?”
“I’m supposed to be observing it, and keep tabs on its current target.”
“Who for? The government? One of the paramilitary groups?”
“The Noctis Custodes.”
I quickly caught the change in 330’s attitude. Muscles tensed, smile started to show too many teeth, and her posture started to shift so she looked ready to pounce. Shit. She was getting ready for a fight. I started looking around for cover to dive behind.
“Ah, that would explain the smell of hypocrisy in the air. You people must be having a hard time finding members; I wasn’t aware that they were recruiting from grade schools now.” 330’s venom seemed to take Brandon by surprise for a moment.
“You’ve got something against us?”
“Oh, now what gave you the hint?”
“330,” I broke in. “What’s the Noctis Custodes?”
“A cult that sacrifices people to Slender Man.”
Brandon bristled at the remark. “We save people from that monster!”
“You kill innocent people following a stupid idea that you can satiate the thing.”
“We do what we have to in order to save people!”
“Um… guys….” Their shouting was starting to draw attention to us. Tried to say something to get them to stop, but they didn’t pay attention to me.
“Brandon!” A fourth voice entered the conversation, belonging to a middle aged woman, who looked like she belonged at the wheel of a minivan full of kids. “There you are! I knew I’d find you if I followed the shouting.”
Brandon’s aggression fell away in an instant. “Sorry, Miss Sieppe. I lost my head.”
“No need to apologize, dear. Just try to keep your emotions under control next time.”
This woman stepped between 330 and Brandon; 330 eased up, but only slightly.
“My name is Jane Sieppe. I see you’ve already met Brandon. We’re the Noctis Custodes in this region.”
“What, just the two of you?” 330 said.
“There used to be more of us.” Sieppe said. “An exchange went bad a while back, and until Brandon joined a year ago, it was just me.”
Thus far this woman appeared to be the only levelheaded person participating in the conversation. I instantly took a liking to her as a result. “What do you mean, exchange?” I asked.
She smiled at me. “You’re the girl who was asking what the Noctis are, weren’t you?” I nodded. “We’re an old group. I’ve heard that we go back as far as ancient Egypt, but I’ve always been fuzzy on the history. We keep an eye out for the Slender Man, in all its incarnations. And when we find that it’s targeting someone-”
“You sacrifice people to it.” 330 said.
Sieppe didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, you could call it that. It’s not a nice thing we do. We take a group of people, usually around twenty of them. People from prisons, nursing homes, or hospitals. Ones who don’t have anything left in their lives. Then we take them to the exchange point, and let the Slender Man take them instead of the child.”
“You mean…” I said, “you let him-it, you let it… kill those people?”
“Only rarely does it outright kill them. Usually, they just disappear. But after that, it stops following the child. We give up those without a future in order to save someone who still has theirs.”
“That’s… horrible….”
“Yes. It is. I don’t ask anyone to approve of it. But it’s the only way anyone has found that can save someone after the Slender Man’s taken interest in them.”
330 stepped towards Miss Sieppe. “You’re planning one of your sacrifices to save that boy back there?”
Sieppe nodded. “Yes. Arnold Brooks. Seven years old. Likes dinosaurs. Wants to be a basketball player when he grows up. Unless we do something, he’ll be taken within a few weeks.”
“You do realize, if you try to sacrifice anyone to Slendy, I will have to stop you.”
“Surely you see what we’re trying to do. If you stop us, the child will be taken. I can understand you’d disagree with our methods, but if you actually try to interfere… it will be the death of the boy.”
“Fuck that!” 330 yelled, lunging towards Miss Sieppe until their faces were almost touching. “Don’t any of you understand?”I’ve seen your conspiracy trying this for millennia, letting people die because you think you’re saving someone! Centuries of stupidity, and you still haven’t realized that it can’t be negotiated with! You can’t bargain with it, can’t satiate its hunger! If it kills a carload of inmates you got from the local prison instead of some kid, that’s because it was planning to kill those inmates the entire time! All you’re ever doing is giving up more victims to it!”
Brandon looked like he was about to start shouting at 330 again, but Sieppe held him back. She stayed remarkably calm for someone who had just been the target of such a verbal assault. “You aren’t the first person to think that. And I’m aware that it may be true. But this is the only thing anyone knows that has a chance of saving people. So we have to try.”
330 spun around and started walking away. “We’re going back, Lisa.”
Walked in silence with her until we were out of sight of the two Custodes. “We you serious back there?” I said. “About stopping their exchange?”
“Yes. I won’t let anyone sacrifice someone to that monster.”
“But what about the kid they’re trying to save?”
“I’ll save him. I’ll save all of them. I don’t care what any ancient conspiracy says to me. No one is going to get taken by the Slender Man. Not while I’m here.”
-Lisa
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Rake
Our follower finally made his move.
It happened while I was asleep. 330 was once more on guard duty full time, so when someone tried to pick the lock on our door, she was waiting. I woke up when I heard the struggle, and the first thing I saw was her using a bed sheet to tie a man to a chair.
“Mornin’, Lisa!” 330 said, as she showed me a CIA badge. “I was right! It was one of Lupine’s men.”
Looked more like a bum than an employee of the CIA. The man was middle aged, with a patchy attempt of a beard on his chin and a dirty old coat loosely hanging on his shoulders.
“I ain’t gonna tell you nuthin.” He said, glaring at 330.
“Really? Well, that’s a shame.” 330 said, searching through his coat pockets. “Course, you’re assuming that I’m interested in questioning you…. Ooh, this looks fun.” She pulled a revolver out of his coat. All but one of the rounds were removed, and 330 spun the cylinder around. When it stopped, before I could shout, she pointed it at her own head and pulled the trigger. Didn’t fire. “Nope, of course it wouldn’t.” 330 said. She spun the cylinder again, and pointed it towards the man. “You, on the other hand….”
“Wait!” I shouted. “You can’t just shoot him!”
330 didn’t lower the gun, but she did look at me, confused. “Um… yes. Yes I can. I’m pretty sure the gun works, and it’s not like he can dodge when he’s tied up….”
“No, I mean… I just…. It’s… not right to just kill people like that…. You’ve already tied him up, there’s no reason to shoot him!”
The confusion shifted into shock. She turned away so I couldn’t see her face, and pointed the gun away from the man. Pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew into 330’s empty room. Then she threw the empty gun onto the ground.
When she turned back to face me, there was a smile on her face. “Alright, new plan, we don’t shoot him.” Did I hear her voice crack slightly? Not sure…. “Still leaves the question of what we’re supposed to do with him. He is stalking us, you know.”
The man spoke up. “Like I said, you ain’t getting’ nuthin out of me. I won’t talk. Specially now that I know that girlie there doesn’t have the guts to-”
That’s when the whispers began.
Same as the night in the car, but this time I was awake to hear them. Quiet, subtle, incoherent, but still slipping into my ears, into my thoughts…. The ceiling above us creaked as something paced back and forth on that floor.
“Okay, I have just one question for you.” 330 said, her eyes following the pacing sound. “And this is one that you really, really want to answer.”
The man was also keeping his attention on the sound. He slowly nodded his ashen white face.
“Why is the Rake following the CIA agent sent to follow us?”
It took a few false starts, but eventually he stuttered out a reply. “Lupine… recruits us. People stalked by Fears. For… for suicide squads. If the hitman doesn’t manage to kill the target, there’s a chance that… that the target will get caught up as collateral damage from the Fear following the hitman. We’re usually only sent after supernatural targets, or people who… who’ve proven impossible to kill by human means. We… usually only survive two missions…. Oh god please get me out of here please I’m sorry that I was supposed to kill you it was just my job I’m not even very good at it I’m not a real hitman they told me they could keep the monster away if I worked for them they told me I could go back to my normal life once I was done I don’t want to die I don’t want to die please god I don’t want to die!”
“Calm your shit.” 330 sighed. “Usually I’d just leave you here to deal with your own problems, but…. Lisa, you wouldn’t agree with that, would you?”
Of course I wouldn’t! How could she even think I would….
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She started to untie the man from the chair. “Where’s your car?”
“In the alley behind this place.” He said.
“That’s closer than ours. We’ll use the fire escape and make a break for it. Lisa, grab a bag and get ready to leave.”
Didn’t take long to do so. I’d been expecting the need of a sudden escape for a while now. Although not under these circumstances.
As 330 was about to open the door out, the whispers and pacing stopped. Everyone stood still, trying to catch any noises. Nothing.
“330….” I said. “What exactly is the Rake?”
“Another monster. You’ll know it when you see it. Just run to the car and try not to let it get close.”
“It comes to you in your sleep.” The man whispered. “Night after night, every night, coming to me and whispering in my ear, clawing at my arms, night after night reopening the wounds, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t look into its eyes, if I look into its eyes it will kill me….”
“Yeah what he said.” 330 threw the door open. Nothing on the other side. “Fire exit’s just a few doors down. Follow me, and no matter what, don’t stop running.”
And we ran. Down the hall, down the stairs, into the alley. The car was close. Before we could reach it, this… thing… jumped from the roof of a building and landed between us and the car. It looked kinda like a human… same basic shape, at least. But it’s skin was deathly pale, and there was no hair anywhere on its body. The ends of its fingers had claws that looked more like knives than anything natural, and its eyes were black as tar. Guess that’s the Rake.
330 fired a shot at it, hitting it directly in the chest. Black blood seeped out of the wound, but it didn’t seem to bother the creature. It charged at us… damn it was fast. Ran by both of us before 330 could fire again. But it wasn’t interested in killing us. The hitman… he only had started to scream before one of the Rake’s clawed hands impaled him through the chest. The Rake held the man up and opened its mouth so that the blood drained down its throat, then it turned towards us and smiled with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. 330 fired the rest of her clip into the thing, but to no effect. It threw the man onto the ground, and vanished.
Even if we already knew what we would find, we checked the man anyways. He was dead, those claws having shredded his insides.
-Lisa
It happened while I was asleep. 330 was once more on guard duty full time, so when someone tried to pick the lock on our door, she was waiting. I woke up when I heard the struggle, and the first thing I saw was her using a bed sheet to tie a man to a chair.
“Mornin’, Lisa!” 330 said, as she showed me a CIA badge. “I was right! It was one of Lupine’s men.”
Looked more like a bum than an employee of the CIA. The man was middle aged, with a patchy attempt of a beard on his chin and a dirty old coat loosely hanging on his shoulders.
“I ain’t gonna tell you nuthin.” He said, glaring at 330.
“Really? Well, that’s a shame.” 330 said, searching through his coat pockets. “Course, you’re assuming that I’m interested in questioning you…. Ooh, this looks fun.” She pulled a revolver out of his coat. All but one of the rounds were removed, and 330 spun the cylinder around. When it stopped, before I could shout, she pointed it at her own head and pulled the trigger. Didn’t fire. “Nope, of course it wouldn’t.” 330 said. She spun the cylinder again, and pointed it towards the man. “You, on the other hand….”
“Wait!” I shouted. “You can’t just shoot him!”
330 didn’t lower the gun, but she did look at me, confused. “Um… yes. Yes I can. I’m pretty sure the gun works, and it’s not like he can dodge when he’s tied up….”
“No, I mean… I just…. It’s… not right to just kill people like that…. You’ve already tied him up, there’s no reason to shoot him!”
The confusion shifted into shock. She turned away so I couldn’t see her face, and pointed the gun away from the man. Pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew into 330’s empty room. Then she threw the empty gun onto the ground.
When she turned back to face me, there was a smile on her face. “Alright, new plan, we don’t shoot him.” Did I hear her voice crack slightly? Not sure…. “Still leaves the question of what we’re supposed to do with him. He is stalking us, you know.”
The man spoke up. “Like I said, you ain’t getting’ nuthin out of me. I won’t talk. Specially now that I know that girlie there doesn’t have the guts to-”
That’s when the whispers began.
Same as the night in the car, but this time I was awake to hear them. Quiet, subtle, incoherent, but still slipping into my ears, into my thoughts…. The ceiling above us creaked as something paced back and forth on that floor.
“Okay, I have just one question for you.” 330 said, her eyes following the pacing sound. “And this is one that you really, really want to answer.”
The man was also keeping his attention on the sound. He slowly nodded his ashen white face.
“Why is the Rake following the CIA agent sent to follow us?”
It took a few false starts, but eventually he stuttered out a reply. “Lupine… recruits us. People stalked by Fears. For… for suicide squads. If the hitman doesn’t manage to kill the target, there’s a chance that… that the target will get caught up as collateral damage from the Fear following the hitman. We’re usually only sent after supernatural targets, or people who… who’ve proven impossible to kill by human means. We… usually only survive two missions…. Oh god please get me out of here please I’m sorry that I was supposed to kill you it was just my job I’m not even very good at it I’m not a real hitman they told me they could keep the monster away if I worked for them they told me I could go back to my normal life once I was done I don’t want to die I don’t want to die please god I don’t want to die!”
“Calm your shit.” 330 sighed. “Usually I’d just leave you here to deal with your own problems, but…. Lisa, you wouldn’t agree with that, would you?”
Of course I wouldn’t! How could she even think I would….
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She started to untie the man from the chair. “Where’s your car?”
“In the alley behind this place.” He said.
“That’s closer than ours. We’ll use the fire escape and make a break for it. Lisa, grab a bag and get ready to leave.”
Didn’t take long to do so. I’d been expecting the need of a sudden escape for a while now. Although not under these circumstances.
As 330 was about to open the door out, the whispers and pacing stopped. Everyone stood still, trying to catch any noises. Nothing.
“330….” I said. “What exactly is the Rake?”
“Another monster. You’ll know it when you see it. Just run to the car and try not to let it get close.”
“It comes to you in your sleep.” The man whispered. “Night after night, every night, coming to me and whispering in my ear, clawing at my arms, night after night reopening the wounds, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t look into its eyes, if I look into its eyes it will kill me….”
“Yeah what he said.” 330 threw the door open. Nothing on the other side. “Fire exit’s just a few doors down. Follow me, and no matter what, don’t stop running.”
And we ran. Down the hall, down the stairs, into the alley. The car was close. Before we could reach it, this… thing… jumped from the roof of a building and landed between us and the car. It looked kinda like a human… same basic shape, at least. But it’s skin was deathly pale, and there was no hair anywhere on its body. The ends of its fingers had claws that looked more like knives than anything natural, and its eyes were black as tar. Guess that’s the Rake.
330 fired a shot at it, hitting it directly in the chest. Black blood seeped out of the wound, but it didn’t seem to bother the creature. It charged at us… damn it was fast. Ran by both of us before 330 could fire again. But it wasn’t interested in killing us. The hitman… he only had started to scream before one of the Rake’s clawed hands impaled him through the chest. The Rake held the man up and opened its mouth so that the blood drained down its throat, then it turned towards us and smiled with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. 330 fired the rest of her clip into the thing, but to no effect. It threw the man onto the ground, and vanished.
Even if we already knew what we would find, we checked the man anyways. He was dead, those claws having shredded his insides.
-Lisa
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Night Terrors
So much for Chicago being a place to hide in.
Both of us had thought that our tail wouldn’t be able to find us in a city this size. This place is huge; how’s anyone supposed to look for two people hiding in it?
Yeah that worked out wonderfully. We saw the brown car again last night, driving around the hotel we’re at. Checked the license plate number; it’s definitely the same one.
We’d been staying in a suite style hotel, each of us with our own connected room. After realizing we were still followed, being out of contact in the night suddenly didn’t seem like as good an idea. 330 came into my room and set up a chair by the door so she could keep watch. I pointed out that she didn’t have to spend the entire night sitting in a chair, cause the bed the hotel gave me is large enough to share, and…. I didn’t think it was possible for 330 to blush. If I’d blinked, I’d have missed it, but for a moment her entire face turned red. Not sure why. She still insisted on staying with her chair. Which is how we proceeded to spend the next few nights; me asleep in bed, 330 sitting by the door.
Eventually I realized that she wasn’t just staying up part of the night to keep watch; she wasn’t sleeping at all. Took me longer than I’d have expected to notice, since she wasn’t showing signs of sleep deprivation. Or at least, not showing them as clearly as I’d have thought. When I asked her about it, she insisted that she couldn’t let her guard down to sleep.
“Besides,” she looked away from me, wearing a smile that didn’t reach the rest of her face, “I can’t seem to get the hang of going to sleep in the dark.”
I suggested that I take over for a night so she could get her sleep. She resisted the idea, and it took a while to convince her, but I think I managed. Come that night, I was the one sitting by the door. 330 was still uncertain, but did seem a little grateful for the chance to sleep. Leaving one of the nightstand lights on, she slipped under the covers and closed her eye.
An hour later, I heard the first scream.
It was muffled by the sheets, and for a moment I thought I’d imagined it. The second scream confirmed it for me. Ran over to 330’s bed, expecting some kind of trouble. She was still asleep, but occasionally a cry broke forth. Her eye patch had been taken off before she went to bed, but now both hands were covering the wound.
“Please no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-“
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Stood at the side of the bed like a useless idiot. Eventually she calmed down, and pulled her hands away from the hole where her eye had been. First time I’d seen the wound uncovered, and it caught me off guard. What happened to her, to cause that….
The calm didn’t last long enough for me to think about it. 330 started violently tossing in the bed, clawing at the bandages on her left hand.
“Get off of me get off of me get off of me get off get off get off get off get off-“
Wanted to help her, but didn’t know how. I’d briefly seen her like this the last time I walked in on her asleep, but that hadn’t been near as extreme. Without any other ideas, I tried doing what she’d done to me during my nightmares. Slowly, trying to avoid her violent spasms, I placed my hand on her head. She flinched at first, but seemed to calm. Then I started gently stroking her hair. Gradually, her breathing slowed, and she stopped moving around so much.
Spent most of the night sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to calm 330 whenever her panic began. She never woke up once, even during the most violent and terrified stages. Felt… odd. As if our roles had been reversed; suddenly she was the victim and I was the protector. How was this happening? 330 had always looked so confident, so strong to me. What did it take to make her break down like this?
Only once the sun began to filter through the windows did she calm down for good. I don’t think I’d looked at the door I was supposed to be guarding once the whole night. Great job, Lisa. Least nothing happened.
Well, I’m going to get some sleep now. Because I lack 330’s apparently magical ability to go without sleep indefinitely, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.
-Lisa
Both of us had thought that our tail wouldn’t be able to find us in a city this size. This place is huge; how’s anyone supposed to look for two people hiding in it?
Yeah that worked out wonderfully. We saw the brown car again last night, driving around the hotel we’re at. Checked the license plate number; it’s definitely the same one.
We’d been staying in a suite style hotel, each of us with our own connected room. After realizing we were still followed, being out of contact in the night suddenly didn’t seem like as good an idea. 330 came into my room and set up a chair by the door so she could keep watch. I pointed out that she didn’t have to spend the entire night sitting in a chair, cause the bed the hotel gave me is large enough to share, and…. I didn’t think it was possible for 330 to blush. If I’d blinked, I’d have missed it, but for a moment her entire face turned red. Not sure why. She still insisted on staying with her chair. Which is how we proceeded to spend the next few nights; me asleep in bed, 330 sitting by the door.
Eventually I realized that she wasn’t just staying up part of the night to keep watch; she wasn’t sleeping at all. Took me longer than I’d have expected to notice, since she wasn’t showing signs of sleep deprivation. Or at least, not showing them as clearly as I’d have thought. When I asked her about it, she insisted that she couldn’t let her guard down to sleep.
“Besides,” she looked away from me, wearing a smile that didn’t reach the rest of her face, “I can’t seem to get the hang of going to sleep in the dark.”
I suggested that I take over for a night so she could get her sleep. She resisted the idea, and it took a while to convince her, but I think I managed. Come that night, I was the one sitting by the door. 330 was still uncertain, but did seem a little grateful for the chance to sleep. Leaving one of the nightstand lights on, she slipped under the covers and closed her eye.
An hour later, I heard the first scream.
It was muffled by the sheets, and for a moment I thought I’d imagined it. The second scream confirmed it for me. Ran over to 330’s bed, expecting some kind of trouble. She was still asleep, but occasionally a cry broke forth. Her eye patch had been taken off before she went to bed, but now both hands were covering the wound.
“Please no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-“
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Stood at the side of the bed like a useless idiot. Eventually she calmed down, and pulled her hands away from the hole where her eye had been. First time I’d seen the wound uncovered, and it caught me off guard. What happened to her, to cause that….
The calm didn’t last long enough for me to think about it. 330 started violently tossing in the bed, clawing at the bandages on her left hand.
“Get off of me get off of me get off of me get off get off get off get off get off-“
Wanted to help her, but didn’t know how. I’d briefly seen her like this the last time I walked in on her asleep, but that hadn’t been near as extreme. Without any other ideas, I tried doing what she’d done to me during my nightmares. Slowly, trying to avoid her violent spasms, I placed my hand on her head. She flinched at first, but seemed to calm. Then I started gently stroking her hair. Gradually, her breathing slowed, and she stopped moving around so much.
Spent most of the night sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to calm 330 whenever her panic began. She never woke up once, even during the most violent and terrified stages. Felt… odd. As if our roles had been reversed; suddenly she was the victim and I was the protector. How was this happening? 330 had always looked so confident, so strong to me. What did it take to make her break down like this?
Only once the sun began to filter through the windows did she calm down for good. I don’t think I’d looked at the door I was supposed to be guarding once the whole night. Great job, Lisa. Least nothing happened.
Well, I’m going to get some sleep now. Because I lack 330’s apparently magical ability to go without sleep indefinitely, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.
-Lisa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Chicago
Holy shit this is a big city.
Just posting to say that we’re stopping in Chicago for the time being. Going to hide out here for a while, where it’ll be harder for people to find us. We lost that car that had been following us shortly after getting here, and I haven’t seen it since. Which is nice. Plus no repeats of that previous night, with all its gunfire and nightmares.
Not sure how long we’re staying here. At least as long as it takes before 330 thinks our follower gives up.
-Lisa
Just posting to say that we’re stopping in Chicago for the time being. Going to hide out here for a while, where it’ll be harder for people to find us. We lost that car that had been following us shortly after getting here, and I haven’t seen it since. Which is nice. Plus no repeats of that previous night, with all its gunfire and nightmares.
Not sure how long we’re staying here. At least as long as it takes before 330 thinks our follower gives up.
-Lisa
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Follower
“We’re being followed.”
That’s a pretty good way to catch my attention, 330. While driving down the interstate, she pointed out that the car behind us had been behind us for at least two days.
“Can you tell who they are?” I asked.
“No. But I can make a pretty good guess.”
“… Lupine’s men?”
“Probably.” She tensed up. “But there’s something else there….”
Couldn’t stop watching our tail the entire day. They were driving an old brown car. Really ugly thing; the sort of car you’d think would fall apart if it got anywhere near 40 mph. Not the sort of car you’d expect a CIA agent to be driving, but also not exactly the best car to blend in with. When I saw it again the next day, I didn’t pay it as much attention. They hadn’t done anything but follow us, and even if whoever was driving did try something, I had 330 with me. She could take anything they threw at us.
Even so, she kept that tensed look about her. Always looking in the rearview mirror, swerving down side streets, sometimes just slamming on the accelerator for a few miles. If she was trying to lose our tail, it wasn’t working very well. But the degree to which she was reacting seemed too much for just that one car. And I kept thinking back to what she’d said about something else.
One night, when the sun started setting, instead of stopping at a motel, 330 pulled over to the side of a small two lane road. Open territory, with scarcely any landmarks. A tree. A rock. The road bending in the distance.
“We’re spending the night here.” Not an expected decision. Usually, if there was no place to rest, 330 would keep driving through the night.
Shortly after we stopped, the car that had been following us passed by. Looked like it slowed down briefly as it went by, but it didn’t stop. Guess that would have been too suspicious. Tried to see who was inside, but all I caught was a silhouette of a single person before it was gone.
It was hard, going to sleep inside a car, but eventually I managed it. Until the gunfire started. Woke up, and looked around thinking I’d see 330 outside shooting something. But she was still in her seat beside me, also awake and looking outside. Someone was shooting out there; sounded like a small gun, maybe a pistol. And probably only one person, or at least only one gun firing. 330 was staring out the window in the direction o the sound, but strain as I did, I couldn’t see through the darkness.
“Go back to sleep.” 330 told me. “I’ll keep watch.”
Took her advice. But this time as I tried to fall asleep, I started hearing whispers go through my dreams. Too quiet to understand, but present through all the images that flashed through my head, drawing up memories… deaths… blood… Grendel… my father…. Not the best dreams. Memories started flashing through my head faster than I could understand, the whispers weaving through all of them, until I wanted to scream but couldn’t, I couldn’t scream, could only watch….
Felt a hand on my head, which started gently stroking my hair. Slowly, the whispers were silenced, and the dreams died away.
Rest of the night passed in peaceful blackness. When I woke up, the sun had already risen. 330 had fallen asleep at some point; she was still sitting up, but with her head leaning on her shoulder, and some of her fingers still tangled in my hair. Tried not to wake her up, but as soon as I moved my head her eye opened up.
Big yawn from her. “Morning already? Alright, time to get moving….” Turned the car on, and started driving.
“330?” I said. “What happened last night?”
“You know how we’re being followed by somebody?” I nodded. Of course I did, you’d told me yourself…. “Looks like whoever they are, they’re being followed by something.”
-Lisa
That’s a pretty good way to catch my attention, 330. While driving down the interstate, she pointed out that the car behind us had been behind us for at least two days.
“Can you tell who they are?” I asked.
“No. But I can make a pretty good guess.”
“… Lupine’s men?”
“Probably.” She tensed up. “But there’s something else there….”
Couldn’t stop watching our tail the entire day. They were driving an old brown car. Really ugly thing; the sort of car you’d think would fall apart if it got anywhere near 40 mph. Not the sort of car you’d expect a CIA agent to be driving, but also not exactly the best car to blend in with. When I saw it again the next day, I didn’t pay it as much attention. They hadn’t done anything but follow us, and even if whoever was driving did try something, I had 330 with me. She could take anything they threw at us.
Even so, she kept that tensed look about her. Always looking in the rearview mirror, swerving down side streets, sometimes just slamming on the accelerator for a few miles. If she was trying to lose our tail, it wasn’t working very well. But the degree to which she was reacting seemed too much for just that one car. And I kept thinking back to what she’d said about something else.
One night, when the sun started setting, instead of stopping at a motel, 330 pulled over to the side of a small two lane road. Open territory, with scarcely any landmarks. A tree. A rock. The road bending in the distance.
“We’re spending the night here.” Not an expected decision. Usually, if there was no place to rest, 330 would keep driving through the night.
Shortly after we stopped, the car that had been following us passed by. Looked like it slowed down briefly as it went by, but it didn’t stop. Guess that would have been too suspicious. Tried to see who was inside, but all I caught was a silhouette of a single person before it was gone.
It was hard, going to sleep inside a car, but eventually I managed it. Until the gunfire started. Woke up, and looked around thinking I’d see 330 outside shooting something. But she was still in her seat beside me, also awake and looking outside. Someone was shooting out there; sounded like a small gun, maybe a pistol. And probably only one person, or at least only one gun firing. 330 was staring out the window in the direction o the sound, but strain as I did, I couldn’t see through the darkness.
“Go back to sleep.” 330 told me. “I’ll keep watch.”
Took her advice. But this time as I tried to fall asleep, I started hearing whispers go through my dreams. Too quiet to understand, but present through all the images that flashed through my head, drawing up memories… deaths… blood… Grendel… my father…. Not the best dreams. Memories started flashing through my head faster than I could understand, the whispers weaving through all of them, until I wanted to scream but couldn’t, I couldn’t scream, could only watch….
Felt a hand on my head, which started gently stroking my hair. Slowly, the whispers were silenced, and the dreams died away.
Rest of the night passed in peaceful blackness. When I woke up, the sun had already risen. 330 had fallen asleep at some point; she was still sitting up, but with her head leaning on her shoulder, and some of her fingers still tangled in my hair. Tried not to wake her up, but as soon as I moved my head her eye opened up.
Big yawn from her. “Morning already? Alright, time to get moving….” Turned the car on, and started driving.
“330?” I said. “What happened last night?”
“You know how we’re being followed by somebody?” I nodded. Of course I did, you’d told me yourself…. “Looks like whoever they are, they’re being followed by something.”
-Lisa
Monday, February 6, 2012
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to be reacting. I saw dozens of people get killed back at that facility. I’m still seeing them in my nightmares when I try to sleep. Nothing coherent, just flashes of bodies and screams, flickering between memories of Grendel attacking me in the alley…. And for what? We didn’t get any of the artifacts we’d been looking for in the first place.
What Lupine said, though…. 330 claims that his entire plan is “bullshit,” and that he doesn’t “have any fucking idea what he’s dealing with,” so there’s the hope that he isn’t as right as he claims to be. Maybe. He did sound confident about it all….
We’re going back east again. Not sure what the plan is. Don’t even know if 330 is entirely sure. We were expecting the artifacts at the facility to help give us a clue as to what we needed to do, but… no artifacts, no clue.
-Lisa
What Lupine said, though…. 330 claims that his entire plan is “bullshit,” and that he doesn’t “have any fucking idea what he’s dealing with,” so there’s the hope that he isn’t as right as he claims to be. Maybe. He did sound confident about it all….
We’re going back east again. Not sure what the plan is. Don’t even know if 330 is entirely sure. We were expecting the artifacts at the facility to help give us a clue as to what we needed to do, but… no artifacts, no clue.
-Lisa
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The Facility
Not sure where 330 intended to drive to after we left that building. Perhaps she just wanted to put a lot of distance between it and us.
About an hour of driving later: “Taking the scenic route, I see.”
Grendel was sitting in the back seat of the car. “You’ll want to take a left up here.”
330 kept driving, past the turn. “I thought you were waiting until 9.”
“I got impatient. I simply cannot see how you’re able to stand sitting by and waiting for things to happen in order. It’s maddening.”
He snapped his fingers, and I felt more pain than ever before shooting through my head, then to the rest of my body. Don’t know what happened next; when I opened my eyes, I was lying on the sidewalk, the car was parked next to me, it was nighttime, my face was covered in dried blood, and 330 was holding a laughing Grendel by the throat.
“Why,” 330 shouted at his face, “the fuck. Did you. Do that?”
Between his laughter, Grendel managed to say, “Told you…. I was impatient!” He kept laughing as 330 threw him onto the ground and ran over to me. Pulled me back to my feet, while asking if I felt okay.
“I feel like someone hit every part of my body with a sledgehammer…. What happened?”
“Grendel made it 9 at night. And moved us. You’re lucky…. Most people don’t survive being forcibly thrown through time and space…. Sorry… that I wasn’t paying more attention. Might have been able to stop him….”
“No you wouldn’t have!” Grendel cheerfully said as he got back to his feet. “Now, I believe it is time for us to accomplish the thing which we came here to do. As you can see, I have brought us to the threshold of our target.”
This target appeared to be the local police station.
“Interesting, this building’s history.” Grendel said. “The original station was burned down in a mysterious fire a few years back. But thanks to the donations of several extremely generous anonymous philanthropists, they built a new one on the site of the old. Quite a large number of construction workers were hired for the project. And the amount of ground which was displaced far exceeded what would be necessary for a simple reconstruction.”
“The facility is…. Hidden inside the police station?” I asked.
“Hidden underneath it, to be completely exact. Because the government has a hard on for putting things in top secret bunkers.”
“Grendel….” 330 growled. “What are you planning to do about the police in there?”
“Slaughter them all. It’s only what they deserve, for daring to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Then he laughed some more; whether at my shock or 330’s anger, I couldn’t tell. “Oh, don’t give me those looks. They’re all so deep in Lupine’s pockets that no one will notice they’re gone. And even if you were feeling particularly moralistic today, there’s no way you could stop me. Now my cannon fodder should be arriving at any moment, so I need take my leave.” He vanished again. A few seconds later, a semi-truck sped down the road past us, to the police station. The impact tore through the doors, and Grendel’s thugs leapt out into the chaos. Gunfire ensued.
“Should we try to stop them?” I asked. “Or…?”
The expression on 330’s face was that of a battle; you could see the conflict tearing inside her. “No.” She spat out at last. “This is our best chance. If we can, we get any civilians we run across out, but we focus on getting to our goal.” She held a pistol to me. “Take this.”
Didn’t take it. “Sorry, but I… don’t think I could actually shoot another person with that….”
“This isn’t for shooting people.” She said, putting the gun in my hand. “If we’re going inside the same building as Grendel when he’s in a killing mood, I want you to go in armed.”
Well that’s different. Took the gun, and ran after 330 to the wrecked entrance. The truck had pretty thoroughly smashed it; glass doors might not have been the best construction decision when they rebuilt the place.
I… had to stop when I got inside. I’ve seen dead people before. Mostly at family funerals, back when I was still going to them. Then there was that fun with the skeletons in the last research facility we went through. But this was the first time I’ve seen people who had just been killed. Violently killed. Everyone who had been waiting in the lobby had been shot, and the officer at the desk had been crushed by the truck, his bulletproof glass offering little protection. There was blood everywhere… and it only got worse the further we went in.
Tried to keep my eyes on the back of 330’s head. Worked for most of it. Not for all. Sometimes I couldn’t help but look. Like when we passed someone who’s chest had been torn open, ribs splayed apart and organs displayed…. Definitely not a gun that did that.
Trying not to throw up while running isn’t fun.
Followed the trail of bodies to the evidence room. What was left of the evidence room. I’m assuming that the gaping hole in the wall was originally supposed to be a secret passage. Don’t know how it got torn open like that; nothing less than explosives should have been able to cause that much damage, but I hadn’t heard anything blowing up.
Beyond the opening was a concrete tunnel sloping downwards. There were also several dead guards; definitely not police officers. These were dressed in the urban camo that Lupine’s CIA wore. One of Grendel’s thugs had been shot as well; he was still alive, groaning in pain. 330 kicked him as she walked by.
“Grendel should keep most of the security busy.” She said, walking down the tunnel. “He’ll also likely lead us to wherever the artifacts are being stored. We then need to find an alternative exit from this place.”
“Alternative exit?”
“Yeah. No way this is the only way into of this place. It’s too small for one, and secondly, it would be difficult to move cargo in without causing suspicion in such a populated part of the city. There’s got to be an entrance for supplies, and that’s how we’ll get out. Unless you want to deal with going back through the police station after the local enforcement’s had time to recover.”
Once we reached the end of the tunnel, the facility looked much the same as the last we’d been in. Except newer, and with fresh bodies and bullet holes instead of skeletons and insects. There’d been a lot of fighting, with two more thugs dead. The lights had been switched to a dull red color, and I could hear a low siren sounding at regular intervals. Most of the bodies were guards, shot during the firefight. There were unarmed corpses as well, probably the people staffing the place.
“How are we going to follow Grendel?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t be too hard.”
Looked where 330 was pointing, to the far end of the hall. A pile of bodies had been stacked there, each mutilated with limbs torn apart, brains spread across the ground, bones snapped into fragments…. The blood from the bodies had been used to draw an arrow pointing down a left branch, and the words, “THIS WAY SWEETHEART” underneath.
Followed that arrow, and then the next arrow we came across at another pile of bodies. Didn’t see any other people for a while. Not living ones, at least; until one of the arrows led us through an office. Sitting at his desk, seemingly oblivious to the two other bodies in the room, was a man. He had a smile fixed on his face, and kept looking through this folder. Don’t think he was actually reading anything in it; he’d just flip through until the end, turn back to the beginning, and start again.
I almost grabbed his arm, thinking maybe I could get his attention and tell him to escape, but 330 told me to “Leave him.”
“But-“
”Leave him.”
Wasn’t the sort of order I could ignore, much as I wanted to. Didn’t really have an opportunity for questioning it anyway, as one of Grendel’s men stumbled into the office. Recognized him as the one called Rock. He looked wounded; blood was coming from his arm, though not enough to stop him. Rock glared at the two of us and shoved by, but when he saw the man with the folder, what could almost be a smile appeared on his face. He raised his gun, aiming it at the man….
“Shit,” 330 said when she saw what Rock was doing. “Run!”
Looked back once as we fled. As the man’s body fell, a shadow leapt out of his corpse, lunging for Rock. We turned a corner, couldn’t see what happened next, but I could hear Rock screaming.
Not longer later, 330 stopped us before we ran into the middle of a firefight. Grendel’s men had barricaded themselves in one room, the guards in the opposite room, and the path we needed to take was between them. That sure looked like a fun obstacle.
Then a woman came walking down the hall, straight towards the crossfire. Her expression looked frozen, same as the man in the office. Uncertainty flickered on it for a brief moment as she neared the fight, but was gone instantly. With unflinching stride, she walked right into the gunfire. The guards stopped shooting once they saw her; the thugs didn’t. She was killed in seconds. As the bullets hit her, three more humanoid shadows flew out of her body, and towards the thugs. Screams of pain started, and the gunfire stopped. 330 and I ran through the cleared hallway, towards one last door, which Grendel had helpfully marked with “RIGHT HERE DARLING”
Just as we reached the door, Meatshield was thrown out. Part of his jaw was missing, and his left arm had been cut clean off. Following him walked Grendel, who, judging by the holes in is body, had been shot several times. Shame he can heal. In his left hand, he was holding Meatshield’s arm, which he… took a bite out of. Those sharp teeth of his crunched through the bone easily. And in his right hand… was a sword. That looked like it was made of fire.
A sword. Sword made of fire.
A flaming sword.
Grendel had a flaming sword.
What the fuck.
He began to speak, spewing out chewed pieces of Meatshield’s arm as he did. “Look at it!” He held up the sword. “It’s PERFECT!” Brought down the sword on Meatshield’s leg, slicing through it easily. “It’s even better than I imagined it would be!” More slashes, cutting apart Meatshield’s limbs as he cried in pain.
“Grendel!” 330 yelled.
He stopped. “Oh, very well dear.” The sword went straight through Meatshield’s face, ending his cries. “I just got so excited! This place! It’s wonderful! Have you seen the Nightlander Stalked? Genius! What better job for one tormented by the Nightlanders than that of a bureaucrat? And whenever an intruder interrupts them, it’s a built in defense! You must hand it to Lupine, he certainly was inspired when he came up with that.”
“This is the storage room where we’ll find the artifacts?”
“Oh, yes, this is certainly a storage room containing artifacts.”
Even I could tell that was a vague as hell answer. Didn’t slip by 330 either. “Grendel, give me a straight answer.”
“I would, but look at the time! I really must be going. Enjoy the speech! He’s been spending days working on it, and I don’t mean that figuratively!” Grendel vanished.
“What did he mean by that?” I asked.
“We’re going to find out.” 330 walked through the door, as I followed.
The room was empty. Rows of shelves, crates, racks, but with nothing on any of them.
“Hello, I-330.” A voice came from a speaker system. Lupine’s. “It would appear I have underestimated you once again. My assumption had been that increased security would be enough to prevent further disruptions from you, only for me to be called with the alarming claim that you were singlehandedly wiping out one of my research facilities.”
“Singlehandedly?” I asked, but 330 shushed me, letting Lupine continue.
“Thankfully, we had moved most of our valuable inventory before you chose to attack. Of course by now it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that you are determined to continue your interference. In which case, I suppose that it is only polite for me to let you know what it is you’re interfering with. Save us all some trouble in the end.” 330 motioned for us to leave the room. The sirens had stopped in the halls, leaving only Lupine’s voice to echo through the red lit corridors. “As you’ve no doubt gathered from your readings, this ‘suited demon,’ obviously an allusion to the Slender Man, was from a parallel universe to ours, one doomed to destruction. He escaped through a tear in that universe, leading to ours. I intend to be the one who creates that tear.”
There was a freshly made blood arrow on the wall, with the directions, “THIS WAY TO SEE THE GREAT EGRESS.” I might have found that amusing if I hadn’t seen the bodies Grendel had used to make that nearby.
Lupine was still talking. “I expect you’re wondering why I’m spending this much energy to summon a being who’s already here. The answer is simple: the Slender Man does not exist in a linear chronology. From the moment which he is summoned, he exists through all time in that universe, both prior to and after that actual point of summoning. Which is also the reason I have no fear in telling you any of this. That the Slender Man exists in our universe is proof that I will succeed. I could tell you the exact time and location of the planned ritual, and you would still be unable to do a thing to stop me! His very existence is proof already of my victory!” Then he started laughing. Kinda creepy.
No more sounds of fighting. Not even screams. We hadn’t seen any living people since Grendel.
“Of course you’re wondering why I could make it my goal to summon this being. And to people with narrow views of the world, it must seem like madness. But, to a man with vision like me… it is the only course of action this organization could take! For decades, we spent billions of dollars trying to combat these ‘Fears.’ And for all those efforts, we have accomplished nothing.”
Big door up ahead. Grendel had been polite enough to mark it as the exit. Not polite enough to clean up the mess he’d left while marking it.
“But what if we had a Fear on our side? What if we had a Fear under our control? Imagine it: The Slender Man, working for me. At last, we could make progress in this struggle! At last….”
I’m guessing he kept going for another few hours. I didn’t hear it. 330 led the way through that door, into the basement of a warehouse. Ended up not being too far from where we first found Grendel, though there was still no sign of him.
Now I just have to wait for 330 to figure out what we’re going to do next….
-Lisa
About an hour of driving later: “Taking the scenic route, I see.”
Grendel was sitting in the back seat of the car. “You’ll want to take a left up here.”
330 kept driving, past the turn. “I thought you were waiting until 9.”
“I got impatient. I simply cannot see how you’re able to stand sitting by and waiting for things to happen in order. It’s maddening.”
He snapped his fingers, and I felt more pain than ever before shooting through my head, then to the rest of my body. Don’t know what happened next; when I opened my eyes, I was lying on the sidewalk, the car was parked next to me, it was nighttime, my face was covered in dried blood, and 330 was holding a laughing Grendel by the throat.
“Why,” 330 shouted at his face, “the fuck. Did you. Do that?”
Between his laughter, Grendel managed to say, “Told you…. I was impatient!” He kept laughing as 330 threw him onto the ground and ran over to me. Pulled me back to my feet, while asking if I felt okay.
“I feel like someone hit every part of my body with a sledgehammer…. What happened?”
“Grendel made it 9 at night. And moved us. You’re lucky…. Most people don’t survive being forcibly thrown through time and space…. Sorry… that I wasn’t paying more attention. Might have been able to stop him….”
“No you wouldn’t have!” Grendel cheerfully said as he got back to his feet. “Now, I believe it is time for us to accomplish the thing which we came here to do. As you can see, I have brought us to the threshold of our target.”
This target appeared to be the local police station.
“Interesting, this building’s history.” Grendel said. “The original station was burned down in a mysterious fire a few years back. But thanks to the donations of several extremely generous anonymous philanthropists, they built a new one on the site of the old. Quite a large number of construction workers were hired for the project. And the amount of ground which was displaced far exceeded what would be necessary for a simple reconstruction.”
“The facility is…. Hidden inside the police station?” I asked.
“Hidden underneath it, to be completely exact. Because the government has a hard on for putting things in top secret bunkers.”
“Grendel….” 330 growled. “What are you planning to do about the police in there?”
“Slaughter them all. It’s only what they deserve, for daring to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Then he laughed some more; whether at my shock or 330’s anger, I couldn’t tell. “Oh, don’t give me those looks. They’re all so deep in Lupine’s pockets that no one will notice they’re gone. And even if you were feeling particularly moralistic today, there’s no way you could stop me. Now my cannon fodder should be arriving at any moment, so I need take my leave.” He vanished again. A few seconds later, a semi-truck sped down the road past us, to the police station. The impact tore through the doors, and Grendel’s thugs leapt out into the chaos. Gunfire ensued.
“Should we try to stop them?” I asked. “Or…?”
The expression on 330’s face was that of a battle; you could see the conflict tearing inside her. “No.” She spat out at last. “This is our best chance. If we can, we get any civilians we run across out, but we focus on getting to our goal.” She held a pistol to me. “Take this.”
Didn’t take it. “Sorry, but I… don’t think I could actually shoot another person with that….”
“This isn’t for shooting people.” She said, putting the gun in my hand. “If we’re going inside the same building as Grendel when he’s in a killing mood, I want you to go in armed.”
Well that’s different. Took the gun, and ran after 330 to the wrecked entrance. The truck had pretty thoroughly smashed it; glass doors might not have been the best construction decision when they rebuilt the place.
I… had to stop when I got inside. I’ve seen dead people before. Mostly at family funerals, back when I was still going to them. Then there was that fun with the skeletons in the last research facility we went through. But this was the first time I’ve seen people who had just been killed. Violently killed. Everyone who had been waiting in the lobby had been shot, and the officer at the desk had been crushed by the truck, his bulletproof glass offering little protection. There was blood everywhere… and it only got worse the further we went in.
Tried to keep my eyes on the back of 330’s head. Worked for most of it. Not for all. Sometimes I couldn’t help but look. Like when we passed someone who’s chest had been torn open, ribs splayed apart and organs displayed…. Definitely not a gun that did that.
Trying not to throw up while running isn’t fun.
Followed the trail of bodies to the evidence room. What was left of the evidence room. I’m assuming that the gaping hole in the wall was originally supposed to be a secret passage. Don’t know how it got torn open like that; nothing less than explosives should have been able to cause that much damage, but I hadn’t heard anything blowing up.
Beyond the opening was a concrete tunnel sloping downwards. There were also several dead guards; definitely not police officers. These were dressed in the urban camo that Lupine’s CIA wore. One of Grendel’s thugs had been shot as well; he was still alive, groaning in pain. 330 kicked him as she walked by.
“Grendel should keep most of the security busy.” She said, walking down the tunnel. “He’ll also likely lead us to wherever the artifacts are being stored. We then need to find an alternative exit from this place.”
“Alternative exit?”
“Yeah. No way this is the only way into of this place. It’s too small for one, and secondly, it would be difficult to move cargo in without causing suspicion in such a populated part of the city. There’s got to be an entrance for supplies, and that’s how we’ll get out. Unless you want to deal with going back through the police station after the local enforcement’s had time to recover.”
Once we reached the end of the tunnel, the facility looked much the same as the last we’d been in. Except newer, and with fresh bodies and bullet holes instead of skeletons and insects. There’d been a lot of fighting, with two more thugs dead. The lights had been switched to a dull red color, and I could hear a low siren sounding at regular intervals. Most of the bodies were guards, shot during the firefight. There were unarmed corpses as well, probably the people staffing the place.
“How are we going to follow Grendel?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t be too hard.”
Looked where 330 was pointing, to the far end of the hall. A pile of bodies had been stacked there, each mutilated with limbs torn apart, brains spread across the ground, bones snapped into fragments…. The blood from the bodies had been used to draw an arrow pointing down a left branch, and the words, “THIS WAY SWEETHEART” underneath.
Followed that arrow, and then the next arrow we came across at another pile of bodies. Didn’t see any other people for a while. Not living ones, at least; until one of the arrows led us through an office. Sitting at his desk, seemingly oblivious to the two other bodies in the room, was a man. He had a smile fixed on his face, and kept looking through this folder. Don’t think he was actually reading anything in it; he’d just flip through until the end, turn back to the beginning, and start again.
I almost grabbed his arm, thinking maybe I could get his attention and tell him to escape, but 330 told me to “Leave him.”
“But-“
”Leave him.”
Wasn’t the sort of order I could ignore, much as I wanted to. Didn’t really have an opportunity for questioning it anyway, as one of Grendel’s men stumbled into the office. Recognized him as the one called Rock. He looked wounded; blood was coming from his arm, though not enough to stop him. Rock glared at the two of us and shoved by, but when he saw the man with the folder, what could almost be a smile appeared on his face. He raised his gun, aiming it at the man….
“Shit,” 330 said when she saw what Rock was doing. “Run!”
Looked back once as we fled. As the man’s body fell, a shadow leapt out of his corpse, lunging for Rock. We turned a corner, couldn’t see what happened next, but I could hear Rock screaming.
Not longer later, 330 stopped us before we ran into the middle of a firefight. Grendel’s men had barricaded themselves in one room, the guards in the opposite room, and the path we needed to take was between them. That sure looked like a fun obstacle.
Then a woman came walking down the hall, straight towards the crossfire. Her expression looked frozen, same as the man in the office. Uncertainty flickered on it for a brief moment as she neared the fight, but was gone instantly. With unflinching stride, she walked right into the gunfire. The guards stopped shooting once they saw her; the thugs didn’t. She was killed in seconds. As the bullets hit her, three more humanoid shadows flew out of her body, and towards the thugs. Screams of pain started, and the gunfire stopped. 330 and I ran through the cleared hallway, towards one last door, which Grendel had helpfully marked with “RIGHT HERE DARLING”
Just as we reached the door, Meatshield was thrown out. Part of his jaw was missing, and his left arm had been cut clean off. Following him walked Grendel, who, judging by the holes in is body, had been shot several times. Shame he can heal. In his left hand, he was holding Meatshield’s arm, which he… took a bite out of. Those sharp teeth of his crunched through the bone easily. And in his right hand… was a sword. That looked like it was made of fire.
A sword. Sword made of fire.
A flaming sword.
Grendel had a flaming sword.
What the fuck.
He began to speak, spewing out chewed pieces of Meatshield’s arm as he did. “Look at it!” He held up the sword. “It’s PERFECT!” Brought down the sword on Meatshield’s leg, slicing through it easily. “It’s even better than I imagined it would be!” More slashes, cutting apart Meatshield’s limbs as he cried in pain.
“Grendel!” 330 yelled.
He stopped. “Oh, very well dear.” The sword went straight through Meatshield’s face, ending his cries. “I just got so excited! This place! It’s wonderful! Have you seen the Nightlander Stalked? Genius! What better job for one tormented by the Nightlanders than that of a bureaucrat? And whenever an intruder interrupts them, it’s a built in defense! You must hand it to Lupine, he certainly was inspired when he came up with that.”
“This is the storage room where we’ll find the artifacts?”
“Oh, yes, this is certainly a storage room containing artifacts.”
Even I could tell that was a vague as hell answer. Didn’t slip by 330 either. “Grendel, give me a straight answer.”
“I would, but look at the time! I really must be going. Enjoy the speech! He’s been spending days working on it, and I don’t mean that figuratively!” Grendel vanished.
“What did he mean by that?” I asked.
“We’re going to find out.” 330 walked through the door, as I followed.
The room was empty. Rows of shelves, crates, racks, but with nothing on any of them.
“Hello, I-330.” A voice came from a speaker system. Lupine’s. “It would appear I have underestimated you once again. My assumption had been that increased security would be enough to prevent further disruptions from you, only for me to be called with the alarming claim that you were singlehandedly wiping out one of my research facilities.”
“Singlehandedly?” I asked, but 330 shushed me, letting Lupine continue.
“Thankfully, we had moved most of our valuable inventory before you chose to attack. Of course by now it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that you are determined to continue your interference. In which case, I suppose that it is only polite for me to let you know what it is you’re interfering with. Save us all some trouble in the end.” 330 motioned for us to leave the room. The sirens had stopped in the halls, leaving only Lupine’s voice to echo through the red lit corridors. “As you’ve no doubt gathered from your readings, this ‘suited demon,’ obviously an allusion to the Slender Man, was from a parallel universe to ours, one doomed to destruction. He escaped through a tear in that universe, leading to ours. I intend to be the one who creates that tear.”
There was a freshly made blood arrow on the wall, with the directions, “THIS WAY TO SEE THE GREAT EGRESS.” I might have found that amusing if I hadn’t seen the bodies Grendel had used to make that nearby.
Lupine was still talking. “I expect you’re wondering why I’m spending this much energy to summon a being who’s already here. The answer is simple: the Slender Man does not exist in a linear chronology. From the moment which he is summoned, he exists through all time in that universe, both prior to and after that actual point of summoning. Which is also the reason I have no fear in telling you any of this. That the Slender Man exists in our universe is proof that I will succeed. I could tell you the exact time and location of the planned ritual, and you would still be unable to do a thing to stop me! His very existence is proof already of my victory!” Then he started laughing. Kinda creepy.
No more sounds of fighting. Not even screams. We hadn’t seen any living people since Grendel.
“Of course you’re wondering why I could make it my goal to summon this being. And to people with narrow views of the world, it must seem like madness. But, to a man with vision like me… it is the only course of action this organization could take! For decades, we spent billions of dollars trying to combat these ‘Fears.’ And for all those efforts, we have accomplished nothing.”
Big door up ahead. Grendel had been polite enough to mark it as the exit. Not polite enough to clean up the mess he’d left while marking it.
“But what if we had a Fear on our side? What if we had a Fear under our control? Imagine it: The Slender Man, working for me. At last, we could make progress in this struggle! At last….”
I’m guessing he kept going for another few hours. I didn’t hear it. 330 led the way through that door, into the basement of a warehouse. Ended up not being too far from where we first found Grendel, though there was still no sign of him.
Now I just have to wait for 330 to figure out what we’re going to do next….
-Lisa
Friday, February 3, 2012
"Cannon Fodder"
After a long journey, we finally found ourselves at the site where Research Facility 09 was supposed to be. The two of us were on a hill a block away, scouting out the place with binoculars.
“330,” I said after thorough examination, “this is an elementary school.”
“Ah, you mean it is a secret CIA base cleverly disguised as an elementary school!”
I took another look at the place. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s an elementary school.”
If it was a top secret facility, then I’ll admit it was a damn impressive disguise. Can’t imagine how much work it would have taken to get hundreds of little kids to work along with the cover. Looking at 330, she seemed to be having some doubts as well.
“This is where it was supposed to be,” she insisted. “The records said it would be right here.”
“Well, the records were pretty old. Things might have changed.
She snarled. “I’m getting soft. Once I wouldn’t have let time get in my way like this.”
“So…. What’s the plan then? I don’t think that people would like us tearing apart a school in search of ancient artifacts which probably aren’t there.”
“I’ll think of something. In the meantime, we’ll stick around, see if we can pick up anything, maybe look up the local news archives for-“
She stopped midsentence, stood bolt upright, and snapped her attention down the road.
“330? What is it?”
”Get in the car.”
I’d picked up enough to know not to stand around asking questions in moments like that, and got inside fast as I could. Waited until we were driving before I asked what was going on.
“Grendel.” Barely could hear the name through her gritted teeth.
“What… where?” Looked out the windows, but didn’t see anyone like how I remembered him looking.
“Somewhere in the city. I can feel him here…. Like a big, throbbing infection in time.”
“What… What’s he doing here?”
“We’re going to go and find out.” The flash in her eyes was unsettling. And I couldn’t tell if she was grimacing or grinning….
We drove at what was probably double the legal speed limit through the city. Don’t think 330 even touched the brakes until we reached a part of town filled with rusting buildings and shady looking people. Car screeched to a stop only a few feet away from ramming the front door of an empty warehouse. 330 was out of the car in a second, with me running to keep up with her. Threw open the door, and shoved her way past the huge black man who was probably supposed to be a guard.
“Grendel!” The shout echoed through the building. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Suddenly he appeared right in front of us, his red eyes flashing in the darkness, a huge grin showing his glaringly white sharp teeth, hair twisting and writhing like a mass of shadows…. For a moment, I was back in that alley, feeling his hand against my throat….
“Sweetheart!” Grendel shouted to 330. “We’ve been waiting for you! Good to see you in that eyepatch again, I must say, out of all your looks, it’s my personal favorite. “
I was still trapped in that past moment. Remembering being thrown through the air like a doll, feeling the hunger on his breath… My legs felt weak, and I would have fallen was 330 not there to catch me.
“Oh, I see the girl’s still in her more boring stage of life.” Grendel said. “Is she still upset about our little rendezvous in the alley? That was ages ago!”
“It was only five months ago!” I managed to shout.
“Well, for you, maybe.”
He shrugged, and suddenly seemed more human. Eyes didn’t glow with the same brightness, and the dancing shadows settled into more normal hair.
“What are you doing here, Grendel?” 330 asked.
“Why, the same as you. I’m here to break into a top secret CIA building and acquire for myself a wonderfully destructive item they have hiding in there.”
“How did you know what we were planning?” I asked, finding my voice once more.
“Because I saw you do it. Quite an exciting episode it will be; shame it won’t work out like you’re hoping.”
“What do you mean by tha-“ 330 cut me by holding up a hand.
“You know where the facility is?”
“Of course I do, darling. You think I’d do something foolish like come all the way up here without a plan, relying only on decades old information as a lead?” He laughed when 330 responded by sticking out her tongue at him. “Not only do I have the location, but I have also acquired a key card, codes, and a few fingers and eyes which are needed to get past various measures of security which will try to impede us. I even hired some cannon fodder, for a little added fun.” He waved dramatically around the room. “Oh, cannon fodder! You can come out now!”
If someone had made a book called “An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Thugs and Lowlifes,” the men who walked out of the shadows would have all been on the front cover.
“I believe you already met Rock.” Grendel pointed to the door guard, who scowled when he heard his name. “Rock’s something of a local celebrity from what I hear. There isn’t another for miles who’s snapped as many necks as him! And you just have to meet my personal favorite, Meatshield!” This time he pointed at the largest man I’ve ever seen. If this man had been launched into space, small planets would orbit around him. “Can’t for the life of me recall what his real name is,” Grendel continued, “but Meatshield fits him so well. Isn’t that right, Meatshield?”
“Da,” was the heavily accented reply.
“You have no idea what Meatshield even means, do you?”
“Nyet.”
“That’s my boy! Isn’t he great?”
330 was still glaring at him. I think. Or smiling. She has the weirdest facial expressions. “What’s all this for then? Does the mighty Grendel really need help just to clear out a single building?”
“Maybe I was just in the mood for a change of pace? Besides,” for a moment, his eyes were burning red again, “it’s a good idea to keep a few snacks on hand, lest I get hungry.”
Ooookay. That’s creepy.
330 looked as though she was about to speak, but Grendel went into another speech before she could. Interrupting seems par for course in these conversations. “So, whaddya say, honey? You, me, along with my minions plus your hanger on, all together for one big party over at Lupine’s place? We can kill so many people together, it’ll be just like old times!” Again 330 started to speak, but Grendel silenced her with finger at her lips. She made a grab at that finger, but he moved it away to quickly. “Hush now, my love! Now is not the time for words! Do not let them dilute the sweet anticipation for the bloodshed we shall bring about!” The finger was removed, and Grendel chuckled. “Pick you up at nine? Trust me, it’ll be a magical night.”
Then he was gone, with no sign marking his departure. The thugs had already left, slinking away in the distraction of Grendel’s monologue.
“Bastard’s always the same.” 330 said.
“What are we going to do about him?” I asked, hoping the answer involved staying as far from him as possible.
“We let him get us inside the facility. Then we grab what we’re looking for and get the hell out of there. Preferably before he suddenly decides to try and kill us. He has a habit of doing that, you should know.”
She started to walk to the car, but I still had questions. “The way he appeared, then vanished, and the way he talked about things. He’s a time traveler too, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Short, curt, refusing to elaborate any further.
“You two have a history?”
“Yes.”
“Going to tell me any of it?”
“No.”
Wasn’t expecting anything more.
-Lisa
“330,” I said after thorough examination, “this is an elementary school.”
“Ah, you mean it is a secret CIA base cleverly disguised as an elementary school!”
I took another look at the place. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s an elementary school.”
If it was a top secret facility, then I’ll admit it was a damn impressive disguise. Can’t imagine how much work it would have taken to get hundreds of little kids to work along with the cover. Looking at 330, she seemed to be having some doubts as well.
“This is where it was supposed to be,” she insisted. “The records said it would be right here.”
“Well, the records were pretty old. Things might have changed.
She snarled. “I’m getting soft. Once I wouldn’t have let time get in my way like this.”
“So…. What’s the plan then? I don’t think that people would like us tearing apart a school in search of ancient artifacts which probably aren’t there.”
“I’ll think of something. In the meantime, we’ll stick around, see if we can pick up anything, maybe look up the local news archives for-“
She stopped midsentence, stood bolt upright, and snapped her attention down the road.
“330? What is it?”
”Get in the car.”
I’d picked up enough to know not to stand around asking questions in moments like that, and got inside fast as I could. Waited until we were driving before I asked what was going on.
“Grendel.” Barely could hear the name through her gritted teeth.
“What… where?” Looked out the windows, but didn’t see anyone like how I remembered him looking.
“Somewhere in the city. I can feel him here…. Like a big, throbbing infection in time.”
“What… What’s he doing here?”
“We’re going to go and find out.” The flash in her eyes was unsettling. And I couldn’t tell if she was grimacing or grinning….
We drove at what was probably double the legal speed limit through the city. Don’t think 330 even touched the brakes until we reached a part of town filled with rusting buildings and shady looking people. Car screeched to a stop only a few feet away from ramming the front door of an empty warehouse. 330 was out of the car in a second, with me running to keep up with her. Threw open the door, and shoved her way past the huge black man who was probably supposed to be a guard.
“Grendel!” The shout echoed through the building. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Suddenly he appeared right in front of us, his red eyes flashing in the darkness, a huge grin showing his glaringly white sharp teeth, hair twisting and writhing like a mass of shadows…. For a moment, I was back in that alley, feeling his hand against my throat….
“Sweetheart!” Grendel shouted to 330. “We’ve been waiting for you! Good to see you in that eyepatch again, I must say, out of all your looks, it’s my personal favorite. “
I was still trapped in that past moment. Remembering being thrown through the air like a doll, feeling the hunger on his breath… My legs felt weak, and I would have fallen was 330 not there to catch me.
“Oh, I see the girl’s still in her more boring stage of life.” Grendel said. “Is she still upset about our little rendezvous in the alley? That was ages ago!”
“It was only five months ago!” I managed to shout.
“Well, for you, maybe.”
He shrugged, and suddenly seemed more human. Eyes didn’t glow with the same brightness, and the dancing shadows settled into more normal hair.
“What are you doing here, Grendel?” 330 asked.
“Why, the same as you. I’m here to break into a top secret CIA building and acquire for myself a wonderfully destructive item they have hiding in there.”
“How did you know what we were planning?” I asked, finding my voice once more.
“Because I saw you do it. Quite an exciting episode it will be; shame it won’t work out like you’re hoping.”
“What do you mean by tha-“ 330 cut me by holding up a hand.
“You know where the facility is?”
“Of course I do, darling. You think I’d do something foolish like come all the way up here without a plan, relying only on decades old information as a lead?” He laughed when 330 responded by sticking out her tongue at him. “Not only do I have the location, but I have also acquired a key card, codes, and a few fingers and eyes which are needed to get past various measures of security which will try to impede us. I even hired some cannon fodder, for a little added fun.” He waved dramatically around the room. “Oh, cannon fodder! You can come out now!”
If someone had made a book called “An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Thugs and Lowlifes,” the men who walked out of the shadows would have all been on the front cover.
“I believe you already met Rock.” Grendel pointed to the door guard, who scowled when he heard his name. “Rock’s something of a local celebrity from what I hear. There isn’t another for miles who’s snapped as many necks as him! And you just have to meet my personal favorite, Meatshield!” This time he pointed at the largest man I’ve ever seen. If this man had been launched into space, small planets would orbit around him. “Can’t for the life of me recall what his real name is,” Grendel continued, “but Meatshield fits him so well. Isn’t that right, Meatshield?”
“Da,” was the heavily accented reply.
“You have no idea what Meatshield even means, do you?”
“Nyet.”
“That’s my boy! Isn’t he great?”
330 was still glaring at him. I think. Or smiling. She has the weirdest facial expressions. “What’s all this for then? Does the mighty Grendel really need help just to clear out a single building?”
“Maybe I was just in the mood for a change of pace? Besides,” for a moment, his eyes were burning red again, “it’s a good idea to keep a few snacks on hand, lest I get hungry.”
Ooookay. That’s creepy.
330 looked as though she was about to speak, but Grendel went into another speech before she could. Interrupting seems par for course in these conversations. “So, whaddya say, honey? You, me, along with my minions plus your hanger on, all together for one big party over at Lupine’s place? We can kill so many people together, it’ll be just like old times!” Again 330 started to speak, but Grendel silenced her with finger at her lips. She made a grab at that finger, but he moved it away to quickly. “Hush now, my love! Now is not the time for words! Do not let them dilute the sweet anticipation for the bloodshed we shall bring about!” The finger was removed, and Grendel chuckled. “Pick you up at nine? Trust me, it’ll be a magical night.”
Then he was gone, with no sign marking his departure. The thugs had already left, slinking away in the distraction of Grendel’s monologue.
“Bastard’s always the same.” 330 said.
“What are we going to do about him?” I asked, hoping the answer involved staying as far from him as possible.
“We let him get us inside the facility. Then we grab what we’re looking for and get the hell out of there. Preferably before he suddenly decides to try and kill us. He has a habit of doing that, you should know.”
She started to walk to the car, but I still had questions. “The way he appeared, then vanished, and the way he talked about things. He’s a time traveler too, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Short, curt, refusing to elaborate any further.
“You two have a history?”
“Yes.”
“Going to tell me any of it?”
“No.”
Wasn’t expecting anything more.
-Lisa
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